Transformers 5 Release Date, Cast, and Rumors: Will There be a Cinematic Universe?

Transformers 5 is a starting to become a talked like a legend on the Internet. As the fourth installment of Transformers: Age of Extinction made the most money of any film last year, it just makes sense to make a sequel, as the ending was open-ended enough for one. However, critics and audiences are starting to have a negative reaction to this film series, and part of it is Michael Bay and his short-attention span style of filmmaking along with his addiction to explosions.

According to Day Herald, Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner is in process of hiring a lot of writers for the movie, but it sounds like they want to take the next logical step and have the Transformers Cinematic Universe. Yes, just like Marvel, Star Wars, and DC with their lines of films that are all connected, Hasbro wants to have a series of movies in the Transformers universe.

So what kind of spinoff plans are happening? There are still rumors going on about bringing aboard Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson and creating a G.I. Joe and Transformers crossover film. Considering that Hasbro owns the rights to both franchises, it could be a potential box-office draw. However, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, the producer of the Transformers, has stated in an interview that this crossover was "not a realistic proposition, at least not in the near future". I believe that My Little Pony is also Hasbro property, but this would not cross over very well.

A recent announcement after Goldner's has revealed that Hasbro intends to create an all-female Transformers team, according to IGN. The plan is to introduce this team in the comics with Transformers: Combiner Hunters, and these six new female Autobots will form a Combiner character named Victorion. Could these characters be bought in to have their own film?

We know for sure that Michael Bay is not going to be taking the director's helm here, this means that someone else will have to take up the reigns. It will probably be the director of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jonathan Liebesman. As for what Michael Bay is doing, he plans to work on a Benghazi-based drama 13 Hours, which has no planned release date. Bay is still the executive producer, so he still has say in what happens in the next Transformers film (or series of films).

The statement from Goldner was made during Hasbro's 2015 Q1 Earnings Conference Call. Goldner stated that the sequel to Transformers: Age of Extinction will be happening in 2017. The producers and Paramount apparently wanted a 2016 Transformers film, and apparently wanted to have a new film come out every two years. Considering all of the delays of information regarding Transformers 5, I am not surprised.

As for the plot for the film, Goldner announced that the studio and filmmakers hired some writers including Akiva Goldsman to create a strategic plan around the Transformers franchise. If you aren't familiar with Goldsman work, he has written many speculative fiction movies including two Batman films (Batman Forever and the now infamous Batman and Robin), Lost in Space, I, Robot, and won an Oscar and Golden Globe for his work on A Beautiful Mind screenplay.

So here's where Transformers 5 is: a place many in Hollywood call "development hell". Of course, I'm sure someone will put this sequel on the fast track, but it won't be fast enough to be released by 2016. Perhaps the producers and writers are taking some time off to come up with a long-term plan.